Courageous Faith – Hebrews 11:23-28

Red Village Church Podcast

Audio Transcript

All right. Beautiful singing! I love singing those old Christmas hymns and singing them in the old traditional ways. So thank you, Adam and team, for helping us lead in song.

Let me mention that my name is Aaron, and I’m the preaching pastor here. I’m glad you’re with us this morning. If you have a Bible with you, open up to the book of Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 11. We’re going to continue in our study of Hebrews today. Our text study is going to be verses 23 through 28 of Hebrews 11. If you don’t have a Bible with you, there are pew Bibles available. It’s on page 585. So, Hebrews 11, verses 23 to 28. Let me read those verses, and then I will pray, and then we will get to work. This is what the Word says:

“By faith, Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict. By faith, Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. By faith, he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. By faith, he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood so that the destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them.”

That’s God’s word for us this morning. Would you please pray with me?

Lord, we thank you for your Word. We know it’s true; we know it’s powerful. And we know that through your Word, the God of Heaven, of all eternity, speaks. So, Lord, that’s why we are here this morning. We want to hear you speak through your Word, even through the folly of my preaching. Would you please speak, Lord? Please give us ears to hear what the Spirit is saying. We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

This morning, as we gather together, many of you know we are taking up our yearly missions offering, where 100% of the offering that comes in today will be going to missions. Within that, 25% of it will be going to Robert and Lindsay Smith, who are church planting in Tennessee. If you’re not familiar with Robert and Lindsay, they were actually part of Red Village in some of the early days, where he did an internship with us. The church that they’re planting in Tennessee is the one where our youth went on the summer mission trip this last year, which was a great trip. That church actually shares the same anniversary weekend as we do. So, if you were with us last week, you celebrated our 14th year as a church. They celebrated their third year as a church last week. Some of the money that we bring in today will be going to them.

Then, 25% will be going to Andrew and Elizabeth, who we started out this service praying for, and who are working overseas in a location that’s somewhat sensitive for us to talk about due to different forms of persecution that can come their way where they’re serving. Rob gave a little bit of information, but if you’re not familiar with Andrew and Elizabeth, let me share a bit. Before they were married, Andrew was also part of the church in the earliest days. In fact, he was part of the first group of members who signed our membership book 14 years ago. And, as Rob mentioned earlier, Angela led our music in the beginning, so Andrew is a huge part of our early days. After he moved out of Madison, that’s where he and Elizabeth met. Elizabeth is a very sweet, very kind lady. They got married, have children, and have been overseas for three years. Some of the money that we bring in today will also be going to them—25%.

Then the remaining 50% will go into what’s called the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, which is an offering that takes place through the International Mission Board, which is one of the largest, if not the largest, mission board in the world. All the money collected for the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering will go to missions. This massive offering that churches all over the world partake in has a yearly goal of about $200 million. It’s a significant offering that helps care for over 3,000 missionaries.

Now, if you’re not familiar with the name Lottie Moon, let me tell you just a little bit about her. Lottie Moon lived in the 1800s. She became a Christian in her early 20s and immediately after her conversion, she had a desire to share the message of Jesus with those who had yet to believe. This desire continued to build and grow. Over time, it led Lottie to join her sister, who was also a Christian, to do mission work in China. Lottie joined her sister there and took up a job teaching at an all-girls school, which was very much connected to the focus of her mission work as Lottie ministered to girls and women in China. The various cultural practices made it pretty hard to reach females in society, particularly at that time.

I don’t have time to share all of Lottie Moon’s story with you, so let me encourage you to look her up and read about her on your own. If you’re looking for a biography to read over Christmas or New Year’s, Lottie Moon’s story could be a real encouragement to you.

Though I can’t share everything about Lottie Moon, let me share a few things she was famous for. First, she was famous for her height—or lack thereof. She was listed as 4 feet 3 inches tall. At the seminary I attended, they actually have one of her chairs on display that was built to fit her small stature.

Second, she was famous for her struggles with loneliness. She served for a long time in China—39 years. In those 39 long years, she had some really difficult things to endure: sickness, turmoil with other missionaries, and often she suffered from the lack of having others to labor alongside her, ministering in isolation and loneliness. This loneliness was perhaps the hardest thing for her to endure in those 39 years. She famously wrote home, telling those back in the States how she would pray and pray that no missionary would ever be as lonely as she was.

By the way, kind of on a side note to that, this battle of loneliness is not just one that Lottie would have battled. I think at different times, all of our missionaries can fight that same battle, where they can feel isolated and lack access to Christian community like we do—Christian community that we probably take too much for granted. If you’re looking for something else to do over Christmas or New Year’s, or maybe to set some new patterns for the New Year, let me encourage you to reach out to our missionaries. If you need help doing that, just please talk to me. I would gladly connect you to our missionaries.

One more thing: third, Lottie was famous for her boldness and courage for the cause of Jesus Christ. She was small in stature, but large in courage. There are stories of Lottie Moon courageously putting herself in very difficult, challenging situations with the hopes of making much of Christ—the one she deeply loved and wanted others to know and experience.

I share this with you today to provide some background on the missions offering we are about to take up, but I want to highlight the boldness and courage of Lottie Moon to set us up for our text today, which continues the theme of living by faith. This theme has been central in our study of different characters from the Old Testament who lived by faith. As we continue this theme of living by faith today, we will see how important it is to have courage. Courage is actually an ingredient of faith.

To be honest, until this week, I hadn’t taken much time to think about how important it is to have courage if we’re going to live by faith. In the past, I’ve thought of different ingredients like trust and belief as essential to faith. The definition of faith we looked at in verse one of chapter 11 says faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Assurance, hope, and conviction—these are ingredients of faith. But as I mentioned, until this last week, I hadn’t taken much time to consider how courage is also baked in. Courage is what we need if we’re going to live by faith and take up a cross to follow Jesus Christ.

Today, as we continue in our study, the Old Testament character we will focus on is Moses and the courage of his parents. Before we look through the passage, let me remind you that Moses is someone we have discussed a number of times already in our study of Hebrews. So, by way of reminder, let me highlight some things we have already covered regarding Moses in the book of Hebrews.

In chapter 3, several months back, we looked at how the writer of Hebrews spoke about Moses as the par excellence of the Old Testament. Moses was faithful in all of God’s house. He was the one who led God’s people out of Egypt, where they were held in the bondage of slavery, as you can read about in the book of Exodus. We talked about this in more detail in today’s sermon. Hebrews 3 and 4 remind us that Moses led God’s people out of Egypt on a journey through the wilderness toward the promised land, which we learned was a land of rest—a land that was promised to a man named Abraham. Moses led God’s people to the promised land, and the writer of Hebrews reminds us how hard-hearted God’s people were during that journey, resulting in them wandering in the wilderness because of their rebellion. They were judged for their rebellion and were not allowed to enter the promised land. It would be the generation after them, led by a man named Joshua, who would enter it.

Fast-forwarding in our study to Hebrews 8, which also speaks about Moses, we learned how God gave instructions to Moses, including building the tabernacle, which was a man-made tent where the presence of God would dwell with his people as they wandered in the wilderness. We also learned how God gave instructions to Moses through the Old Testament law, which was a covenant God made with his people. A covenant in which God declared that he would be their God and they would be his people, promising to obey him and his law. One of the things we discussed in the past is how this was a bilateral covenant, where each side had agreements. God had agreements, and God’s people had agreements. If either side broke their end of the covenant, the entire covenant would be null and void. However, even though God’s people continued to break their end of the agreement by breaking the Old Testament law, we read in Hebrews how God made provisions for them through a sacrificial system, where priests administered sacrifices brought on because of sin—the sin of breaking the covenant. This included a yearly sacrifice in the most holy room inside the tabernacle. Yet despite this provision, the sacrificial system was never going to be enough. It had faults; it could never make whole the covenant that God’s people broke when they broke the law. We learned that the blood of bulls and goats was not enough to fully take away sin and make us righteous before God. This is why, multiple times in the letter of Hebrews, we see that we needed a new covenant.

Thankfully, a new covenant was given to us—one that Christ himself would usher in, which would be a better covenant. This covenant was not a bilateral covenant like the one Moses signed that was established during the Exodus and had faults. Rather, this new covenant is a unilateral covenant where the entirety of the covenant rests upon the Lord and his promises to his people. In this new covenant, the Lord Jesus Christ proved to be the better and true high priest who would offer up a better sacrifice, which was himself. The Lord Jesus Christ died for his people, shedding his blood, which is able to provide forgiveness of sin and make us righteous before God. This righteousness does not come from ourselves but comes by faith—faith in Christ. In this new and better covenant, the righteousness of Christ by faith will be counted as our righteousness. We will talk more about this at the end, but this is a bit of a reminder of what we’ve already worked through in the letter of Hebrews concerning Moses and his ministry during the Exodus and the giving of the Old Covenant.

Today, as we look back at Moses, we will examine more of his backstory—the backstory that led up to his ministry of the Exodus and the Old Covenant, which we will see is filled with courage. Courage is at the center of our text today. Please look back with me again at verse 23. If you are visiting with us, I will just walk us back through the text, so please keep your Bible open.

Verse 23 says this: “By faith, Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.”

Now, just a few things here. First, the faith I spoke about in verse 23 refers to the faith of Moses’ parents. They are the ones who acted in faith as they hid their baby boy. Second, the hiding of Moses and the king’s edict refer to a story found in Exodus chapter 2. To set the stage for Exodus 2, let me pick up where we left off in our study of Hebrews last week. Remember how we left off last week? Great people came out of the family of Abraham through a man named Joseph, who became second in command in Egypt. God used Joseph to rise to a position of power in Egypt, which helped save the family of Jacob, who was Abraham’s grandson. Joseph’s father, Jacob, and his family then dwelled in Egypt. This was not only a saving of Jacob’s family but also a fulfillment of the promise God made to Abraham about an offspring that would bless all the earth.

As God providentially placed Jacob’s family in Egypt through Joseph, time went by, and this family continued to grow in number. Eventually, Joseph died, and a new king arose in Egypt who did not know Joseph. This new king saw how large the family of Jacob had become and viewed them as a military threat—one that he feared might someday rise against him. To maintain his power and control, this new king did two major things—two awful, evil things. First, he put Israel into slavery, oppressing them into forced labor. However, as the Egyptians oppressed Israel, they continued to be fruitful and multiply. This led to the second major action he took—he created an edict that all babies born to Israelite families were to be killed by being tossed into the Nile River. You can read more about this in Exodus 1.

Then back to Exodus 2, we read about a couple from the family of Levi who gave birth to a son—a beautiful child. Because they were not afraid of the king or his edict, they did not want to kill the boy. For three months, they somehow managed to keep this child hidden. However, as the child reached three months, they could no longer hide him. Rather than throwing the child into the Nile to die, this couple placed the child in a basket and floated him down the Nile, hoping that God would protect him and lead him to a place where he could live. In a sweet, perhaps ironic providence, the Lord directed the basket, with the child, right to the daughter of Pharaoh—the very Pharaoh who issued the edict of death. When Pharaoh’s daughter found the child, she didn’t throw him into the Nile to die. Instead, she pulled him out of the Nile and adopted him as her own, naming him Moses, which sounds like the phrase “to draw out,” referring to how she drew him out from the watery grave of the Nile.

Can you imagine how stressful that entire situation must have been for Moses’ parents? Just think about the stress of carrying the child, making the decision of how the child could live instead of die, trying to keep everything as private as possible, not wanting the word to get out, and attempting to keep the child hidden for three months. Babies are not exactly easy to keep quiet! You can imagine how difficult and stressful this season must have been for the parents as they made this decision that was in the best interest of their child. If they were found out, not only would the child have been murdered by Pharaoh, but it seems likely the parents would have been murdered as well. Yet, in spite of the grave consequences of being caught, by faith, the parents of Moses did what was best. They honored the Lord, and they did what was best for their child. They kept him hidden, not being afraid of the king’s edict. Church, that’s a lot of courage. That’s a lot of trust—a lot of courage in the Lord. They were courageously putting their lives and their family into God’s hands, trusting the Lord, regardless of the outcome. This wasn’t some bit of fake courage; this is real courage being put on display by the parents of Moses.

Let’s keep going. This real courage that Moses’ parents had is mirrored in Moses himself. In verse 24, we see this: “By faith, Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.”

Just as a reminder, “Pharaoh’s daughter” is the one who pulled him out of the Nile. Verse 25 continues: “Choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.”

Here we see that at some point along the way, Moses caught wind of the fact that he was adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter, but that his birth parents were Hebrews—part of the family of Israel. We don’t know exactly when Moses learned this information about his true birth parents, but we see in the text that by the time he had grown up, this information grabbed hold of his heart to the point where he was willing to leave all the luxuries of Egypt behind, luxuries he had enjoyed his entire life since being drawn out of the Nile.

By faith, he left all the luxuries and comforts to join his birth family, which, like the rest of the Hebrew people, subjected him to mistreatment. In the book of Exodus, we see he experienced incredible mistreatment. By faith, Moses left the best this life could offer in Egypt to enter into some of the worst this life can offer as a slave. The text tells us that as the Lord grabbed hold of Moses’ heart, he chose to be mistreated and left the fleeting pleasures of sin, doing so in verse 26 by considering, believing, and trusting that the reproach of Christ was greater than all the wealth and treasures of Egypt. Moses was looking forward to the greater reward that was to come.

A few things to note here: First, notice that Moses’ faith was a faith in God’s promises—promises that were still yet to come. This is something we keep circling back to in our study, but I want to emphasize it again today because it is essential. Moses had faith in the promises of God—promises given to his people, particularly the promise of a Christ who was to come—the offspring of Abraham, the Christ who came much later, long after Moses had passed away. Yet, that is where Moses had his sights set: on the promised Christ.

But Moses didn’t just have his sights set on the promised Christ; he also had his sights set on the greater reward that was still to come, which ultimately is found in the eternal promised land in heavenly places. When we walk by faith, that is what we are doing—we are putting our trust in God and in the promises he has given to us. We are trusting in Him. We are trusting in His Word more than we are trusting ourselves or the current situations we find ourselves in, which for Moses included the difficult circumstances of being mistreated.

Second, note again that Moses’ faith was taking him toward that which was better—toward that which was superior. He left the treasures of Egypt and the fleeting pleasures of sin to seek that which was better: the greater wealth and the greater treasure of having Christ. The reward of Christ and the promised land that is to come is greater and better. This is also something we’ve been circling around throughout this study. When we get to chapter 11, friends, when we live by faith, we are seeking that which is better—who is greater, the one who desires his people to have Him, to have the peace and joy He gives, which is so much better and superior. Our God is not a God who is a killjoy. Rather, He is the one who wants the best for us, which is Himself. By faith, we seek the greatest treasure.

In our text, this is what Moses was after. By faith, that is what we must be after as well: that which is better. Third, verses 25 through 26 highlight the theme of the sermon. This was an act of courage by Moses. Think about how easy it would have been for Moses to learn about his past and perhaps even find out about the promises of God concerning Christ, and then just sit on them. He could have tried to figure out ways to honor his past while keeping all the treasures of Egypt at his disposal. Think how easy it would have been for Moses just to stay quiet about it all—not wanting to rock the boat, not wanting to compromise the comforts he enjoyed from Egypt. Yet, in our text, in an act of faith and courage, Moses clearly spoke up. He spoke up in ways that led him to leave everything behind, knowing he would be mistreated for doing so. Friends, there is so much courage involved in the faith of Moses. In verses 25 through 26, we know this: If he were a coward, he would have stayed silent. By faith, with courage, he spoke up.

Let’s keep going with verse 27: “By faith, Moses left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible.”

Let’s pause here for a moment. First, Moses actually left Egypt twice. The first time, as recorded in Exodus 2, was after Moses struck down and killed an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew. Moses fled to a place called Midian, which is a pretty far distance from Egypt, on the other side of the Arabian peninsula. For 40 years, Moses lived there as he toiled in obscurity as a shepherd. That was his first time leaving Egypt.

The second leaving of Egypt took place during the Exodus, when God used Moses to deliver his people from the bondage of slavery and put them on a journey to the promised land. Perhaps the question we should ask here is: Which leaving of Egypt is the author referring to? Based on the chronology of the passages, it seems likely that the leaving of Egypt refers to the first time Moses left when he went to Midian, fleeing from Pharaoh, who no doubt would have gravely punished Moses for killing the Egyptian.

Secondly, as Exodus 2 speaks about Moses fleeing Egypt, it states that Moses was afraid of Pharaoh. However, in our text in Hebrews, we read that he was not afraid of the anger of the king. This might feel like a contradiction between Exodus and Hebrews. Was Moses afraid or was he not afraid? However, I don’t think this is a contradiction. It actually points out that two things can be true at the same time. In Exodus 2, it stresses one thing, whereas Hebrews 11 stresses the other. Both can be true: Yes, Moses was afraid of what Pharaoh could do. I’m sure his heart was racing; he had sweat running down his face. He had real fear and concern about what Pharaoh might do to him for killing the Egyptian. But even though Moses had real fear of Pharaoh, a real concern about what might happen, he also had a greater fear of the Lord—a fear that led him by faith to leave Egypt and embark on a dangerous, long trip to the distant land of Midian.

To further explain this, let me read what the Pillar Commentary on Hebrews says concerning this: “Moses’ faith gave him a perspective different from the one that was being controlled by fear,” meaning the fear of Pharaoh. This perspective enabled him to act as if he was not afraid. In other words, yes, he was afraid of Pharaoh, but because of his fear of God—which was greater—by faith he moved in ways that allowed him to do something as if he had no fear.

On this note, to continue on the theme of courage, friends, to have courage doesn’t mean we are always 100% void of concerns or fears or that we are blind to unpleasant realities that might come our way. No, to have courage is simply to have the right perspective in the face of those threats—a perspective that is God-centered, which allows us to act in ways that trust in the Lord. If we wait to act with courage until we have no concerns or fears or emotions like that—until we are completely void of those things—then guess what? We will never move. Rather, by faith, we act with courage even when everything inside of us is telling us to do the opposite.

The third point in this passage addresses “seeing him who is invisible.” This is the motivation behind Moses moving by faith. The “Him” that Moses was seeing, that was motivating him and causing him to persevere in the face of his fears and concerns, is obviously the Lord. Over and over, Moses looked to the Lord to find strength, hope, trust, and courage. Through the eyes of faith, as Moses looked to the one who is invisible, he could see God’s hand on him, and that gave him the courage and confidence to move forward.

By the way, this is one of the reasons we, as a church, often try to speak about the evidence of God’s grace on us. We may not physically see God with our eyes, but we can see His gracious hand in our lives. As we see God’s gracious hand, hopefully, it encourages us to persevere and find strength, trust, and courage in whatever God may be leading us to do.

Finally, let’s end our text today with verse 28, which refers to the events that took place after Moses returned from Egypt following his 40 years of toiling in obscurity in Midian. The events that took place are recorded in Exodus, where God used Moses to bring forth various plagues of judgment on Egypt. In our text, it says, “By faith, he, Moses, kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood so that the destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them.”

This refers to Exodus 12—the last of a series of plagues that God performed through Moses. This final plague was not just a judgment; it was also a plague of redemption for all who had faith. In this final plague, God would strike down judgment on the firstborn of the land, which in many ways was God’s judgment on Egypt for how they had previously judged God’s people. This led to Moses’ parents floating him down the Nile in the basket. This judgment would come through the spirit of the Lord, or in our text, “the destroyer,” who would pass through the land. In this last great plague, he would strike down all the firstborn of the land unless the blood of a lamb was sprinkled on the doorframe. When the destroyer passed through Egypt, if he saw the blood of the lamb present, he would pass over that house and not touch it, allowing that house to be saved from judgment. They would receive redemption, which not only saved them from judgment but also freed them from the bonds of slavery.

As mentioned, God used this plague to cause Pharaoh to let God’s people go, saving them from slavery and leading them on a journey to the promised land where they would dwell forever. Friends, this theme of Moses keeping the Passover lamb and sprinkling the blood so the destroyer might not touch the firstborn reflects faith filled with courage. Moses and the rest of God’s people took God at His word and trusted in the salvation that would come through the blood of the lamb.

Think about it: if they put the blood on the doorpost, but God did not make good on His promise and did not destroy the firstborn of the land, think about what would have happened to Moses and all others who put their hope in the Passover lamb. Yet, by courage, they did what God commanded them to do. They trusted in God’s salvation.

This leads me to some concluding thoughts on courage, and as I do, I want to give us some thoughts on how we can grow in this area of our lives.

First, friends, have the courage to stand up and do what is right—do the things that God would have us do. In the text, the parents of Moses had the courage to do the right thing for their son and protect his life. Think how easy it would have been to fall prey to the fear of man. But they didn’t. By faith, with courage, they kept the child hidden for three months. Moses had the courage to do the right thing and leave worldly riches—the fleeting pleasures of sin—in order to have Christ and His eternal reward. It would have been easy to be consumed by worldly pleasures, by sin. But he didn’t fall into that seductive trap. He did the right thing by faith. He treasured Christ as the greatest treasure—the one worth leaving all things behind in order to have.

In the text, Moses had the courage to do the right thing by offering up the Passover lamb so the destroyer might pass by. Moses could have trusted himself to free God’s people, taking the entire situation into his own hands. But he didn’t. Rather, by faith, with courage, he trusted in the Lord and the Lord’s great salvation. Friends, that is what courage is: standing up to do the right things that God would have us do, even in the face of personal cost.

Courage is not just talking big without any skin in the game. It is trusting in our Lord—trusting in ways that we do the things He would have us do, even when everything inside of us tells us to do something different.

Second, church, have the courage to seek after that which is best. Let me say again: that which is best is the Lord. He is the best. He is superior for us. May we have faith and courage to seek after Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength in whatever situation we find ourselves. Friends, in the end, when we act in courage—the courage of faith—it is because we are seeking Christ. As we seek Him, courage will follow.

Third, have the courage to put your hope in God’s redemption. The reality is that when we live with courage, there will be risks involved. In many ways, it was risky for Moses’ parents to stand up for life in a culture that celebrated death. By the way, our culture also celebrates death through abortion, which perhaps makes it risky for us to stand up for life as well. Likewise, it was risky for Moses to leave everything behind. Think of all the things he had to leave. That’s a risk in order to have Christ. It is also risky for us to do something like that as well.

For the cause of Christ, we may need to give up our time, treasures, and talents to serve others. It may be risky to

Audio Transcript

All right. Beautiful singing. I love singing those old Christmas hymns and singing them in the old traditional ways. So thank you, Adam and team, for helping us lead us in song.

So if I mention, my name is Aaron, and I’m the preaching pastor here. I’m glad you’re with us this morning. If you have a Bible with you, open up to the book of Hebrews. Hebrews chapter 11. We’re going to continue in our study of Hebrews today. Our text study is going to be verses 23 through 28 of Hebrews 11. If you don’t have a Bible with you, there are pew Bibles. It’s on page 585. So Hebrews 11, verses 23 to 28. Let me read those verses, and then I will pray, and then we will get to work.

This is what the Word says:

“By faith, Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents. But they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict. By faith, Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. By faith, he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. By faith, he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood so that the destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them.”

That’s God’s word for us this morning. Would you please pray with me?

Lord, we thank you for your word. We know it’s true, we know it’s powerful, and we know that through your Word, the God of Heaven and all eternity speaks. So, Lord, that’s why we are here this morning. We want to hear you speak through your Word, even through the folly of my preaching. Would you please speak, Lord? Please give us ears to hear what the Spirit is saying. I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

So this morning, as we gather together, many of you know we are taking up our yearly missions offering, where 100% of the offering that comes in today will be going to missions. So within that, 25% of it, just so you know, will be going to Robert and Lindsay Smith, who are church planting in Tennessee. If you’re not familiar with Robert and Lindsay, they were actually a part of Red Village in some of the early days, where he did an internship with us. The church that they’re planting in Tennessee is the one where our youth went on the summer mission trip this last year, which was a great trip. That church actually shares the same anniversary weekend as we do. If you were with us last week, you celebrated our 14th year as a church. They celebrated last week their third year as a church. So some of the money that we bring in today will be going to them.

Then 25% will be going to Andrew and Elizabeth, whom we started out this service praying for, who are working overseas in a location that’s somewhat sensitive for us to talk about because of the different forms of persecution that can come their way while they’re serving. Rob gave a little bit of information, but if you’re not familiar with Robert or Andrew and Elizabeth, before they were married, Andrew was also part of the church in the earliest days. In fact, he was part of the first group of members who signed our membership book 14 years ago. And as Rob mentioned earlier, Angela led our music in the beginning, so she was a huge part of our early days. After he moved out of Madison, that’s where he and Elizabeth met, and Elizabeth is a very sweet, very kind lady. They got married, they have children, and they’ve been overseas for three years. Some of the money that we bring in today will be going to them, 25%.

Then the remaining 50% will be going into what’s called the Lottie Moon Christmas offering, which takes place through the International Mission Board, which is one of the largest, if not the largest, mission board in the world. All the money collected for the Lottie Moon Christmas offering will go to missions. This massive offering, which churches all over the world partake in, has a yearly goal of like $200 million. It’s a massive offering that helps care for 3,000-plus missionaries.

Okay, now if you’re not familiar with the name Lottie Moon, let me tell you just a little bit about her. Lottie Moon lived in the 1800s. She became a Christian in her early 20s, where it seemed homelessness. Immediately after her conversion, she had a desire to share the message of Jesus with those who had yet to believe. This desire that she had continued to build and grow, and over time it led Lottie to join her sister, who was also a Christian, to do missions work in China. Lottie would join her sister there and take up a job teaching at an all-girls school, which was very much connected to the focus of her mission work, as Lottie ministered to girls and women in China because the various cultural practices were pretty hard to reach, as females were limited in society, particularly at that time.

Now, I don’t have time to share all of Lottie Moon’s story with you, so let me encourage you to actually look her up and read it on your own. If you’re looking for a biography to read over Christmas or New Year’s, Lottie Moon’s story could be a real encouragement to you. So even though I can’t share everything about Lottie Moon, let me share a few things that she was famous for.

First, she was famous for her height, or lack thereof. She was listed as 4 foot 3. Where I attended seminary, they actually have one of her chairs on display, built to fit her small stature.

Second, she was famous for her struggles with loneliness. She served a long time in China, 39 years. In those 39 long years, she had some really difficult things to endure—sickness, turmoil with other missionaries. Often she would suffer the lack of having others to labor alongside her, where she’d minister in isolation and loneliness. This loneliness was perhaps the hardest thing for her to endure in her 39 years. She actually famously wrote home telling those back in the States how she would pray and pray and pray that no missionary would ever be as lonely as she was.

By the way, kind of on a side note to that: this battle of loneliness is not just one that Lottie would have battled, but I think at different times, all of our missionaries can fight that same battle, where they all are fairly isolated and don’t have access to Christian community like we do, or the Christian community that we probably take for granted. So if you’re looking for something else to do over Christmas and New Year’s, or maybe set some new patterns into the New Year, let me encourage you to reach out to our missionaries. If you need help doing that, just please talk to me. I would gladly connect you to our missionaries.

Okay, and one more. Third, Lottie was famous for her boldness, the courage that she had for the cause of Jesus Christ. She was definitely small in stature, but she was large in courage. There are stories of Lottie Moon, who would courageously put herself in some very difficult, challenging situations with the hopes of making much of Christ—the one that she deeply loved, the one that she wanted others to know and experience his love and grace in her life.

Now, I share this with you today, and I should give you some background on the missions offering we are about ready to take up, but I share this with you, particularly the boldness and courage of Lottie Moon to set us up for our text today. This is the text of study that continues the theme of living by faith, a theme that we’ve been in for the last few weeks as we look at different characters in the Old Testament who lived by faith. Today, as we continue on with that theme of living by faith, we’re going to see how important it is to have courage—courage being an ingredient of faith.

Now, to be honest, until this week, I haven’t taken much time to think about how important it is to have courage if we’re going to live by faith. In the past, I’ve thought of different ingredients like trust and belief as ingredients of faith. The definition of faith that we looked at in verse one of chapter 11 says faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Assurance and hope, conviction, right? These are ingredients of faith. But as I mentioned, until this last week, I have not taken much time to consider how courage is also baked in. Courage is what we need if we’re going to live by faith and take up a cross and follow Jesus Christ.

Today, as we continue in our study, the Old Testament character we’re going to focus on is Moses and the courage of his parents and his own faith. Now, before we look through the passage, let me remind you that Moses is actually someone we’ve talked about a number of different times already in our study of Hebrews. So by way of reminder, let me remind you of some of the things we’ve already come across about Moses in the book of Hebrews.

In chapter 3, several months back, we looked at how the writer of Hebrews spoke about Moses in ways that he’s basically like the par excellence of the Old Testament. Moses was faithful in all of God’s house, and he is the one who led God’s people out of Egypt, where they were held in the bondage of slavery, which you can read about in the book of Exodus.

We’re talking about more in a sermon today. Hebrews 3 and 4 remind us that Moses led God’s people out of Egypt, taking them on a journey through the wilderness towards the promised land, which we learned was a land of rest—a land that we actually talked about in our next text, last study, that was promised to a man named Abraham. Moses led God’s people to the promised land. The writer of Hebrews reminds us how hard-hearted God’s people were when they were on that journey, which resulted in them wandering in the wilderness because of their rebellion, which is rebellion that they were judged for in ways that kept them from entering into the promised land. They did not enter into God’s rest. Their unbelief kept them out.

So it would actually be the generation after them who would enter in, led by a man named Joshua, who took them into the promised land. Then fast-forwarding our study to Hebrews 8, which also speaks about Moses, we learned how God gave instructions to Moses, which included building the tabernacle—a man-made tent where the presence of God would dwell with his people as they wandered in the wilderness. We also learned how God gave instructions to Moses through the Old Testament law, which was a covenant that God made with his people. A covenant by which God declared that he would be their God and they would be his people, promising to obey him and his law.

One of the things we’ve talked about in the past is how this was like a bilateral covenant, where each side had agreements. God had agreements, and God’s people had agreements. If either side broke their end of the covenant, then the entire covenant would be null and void. However, even though God’s people continued to break their end of the agreement—breaking the Old Testament law—we read in Hebrews how God made provisions for them through a sacrificial system, through a priest who administered sacrifices—sacrifices that were brought on because of sin. Sin from breaking the covenant, which included a yearly sacrifice in the most holy room inside the tabernacle.

Yet despite this provision, the sacrificial system was never going to be enough. It had faults; it could never make whole the covenant that God’s people broke. As we learned, the blood of bulls and goats was not going to be enough to fully take away our sin and to make us righteous before God. This is why multiple times in the letter to the Hebrews we see that we needed a new covenant. Thankfully, a new covenant was given to us—a new covenant that Christ himself would usher in, which would be a better covenant.

This covenant was not a bilateral covenant like the one Moses signed, that was signed in the Exodus and had faults. Rather, this new covenant is a unilateral covenant where the entirety of the covenant rests upon the Lord and his promises to his people. A covenant where the Lord Jesus Christ proved to be the better and true high priest, who would offer up a better sacrifice, which was himself, as the Lord Jesus Christ died for his people, shedding his blood, which is able to provide forgiveness of sin, making us righteous before God. This righteousness does not come from ourselves, but it’s righteousness that comes by faith—faith in Christ.

In this new and better covenant, the righteousness of Christ by faith will be counted as our righteousness. We’ll talk about this more at the end, but this is a bit of a reminder of what we’ve already worked through in the letter of Hebrews concerning Moses and his ministry of the Exodus and the giving of the Old Covenant.

Today, as we look back at Moses, we’re going to look at more of his backstory—the backstory that kind of led up to this ministry of the Exodus and the Old Covenant—which we’ll see is a backstory that’s filled with courage. It’s an ingredient of his faith. His courage is at the center of our text today.

So please look back with me again at verse 23. If you’re visiting with us, all I’m going to do is just walk us back through the text. If you have your Bible open, please keep it open. Verse 23 says this:

“By faith, Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents. But when they saw that the child was beautiful, they were not afraid of the king’s edict.”

Okay, now just a few things here. First, the faith I spoke about in verse 23 is a reference to the faith of Moses’ parents, right? They’re the ones who acted in faith as they hid their baby boy. Second, the hiding of Moses refers to a story found in Exodus chapter 2.

To set the stage for Exodus 2, let me pick up where we left off in our study of Hebrews last week. Remember how we left last week? Great people coming out of the family of Abraham, and they come through a man named Joseph, who last week we learned became second in command in Egypt. God used Joseph and his story to rise to a position of power in Egypt by which God would then save the family of Jacob, who was Abraham’s grandson, Joseph’s dad, from a famine in the land.

God saved them through Joseph. Jacob and his family then would dwell in Egypt. This saving is not only saving Jacob’s family, but also it was a saving and keeping of the promise that God made to Abraham of an offspring that would come, and through whom all the earth would be blessed.

As God providentially placed the family of Jacob in Egypt through Joseph, a time went by, and this family continued to grow and grow and grow in number. As the family of Jacob, or Israel, or the Hebrew people grew, they became fruitful and multiplied. As this happened, eventually Joseph died, and after he died, there arose a new king in Egypt who did not know Joseph.

What this new king did know was how large this family of Jacob had become. They were so large that this new king saw them as a military threat, one that he was worried might someday rise up and fight against him. In an attempt to keep his power and control, this new king did two major things—two awful, evil things.

The first is he put Israel into slavery, where Israel was oppressed into forced labor, as the Egyptians were ruthless towards them. However, as the Egyptians oppressed Israel, as slaves, it didn’t stop Israel from being fruitful and multiplying. In fact, the family just continued to grow and grow and grow, which led to the second major action that this new king took: he created an edict which instructed that all the babies born to Israel were to be killed by being tossed into the Nile River. You can read about this more in Exodus 1, but then back to Exodus 2.

We read about a couple who came from the family of Levi who gave birth to a son who was a beautiful child. Because they were not afraid of the king or his edict, they didn’t want to kill the boy. For three months, somehow, they kept this child hidden. However, as the child reached three months, they could no longer hide the child. Rather than throwing the child into the Nile to die, this couple placed the child, this baby, in a basket and floated him down the Nile with the hope that God would protect the child and lead him to a place where he could live.

As the child floated down the Nile in a basket, in sweet, perhaps ironic providence, the Lord directed the basket and the child right to the daughter of Pharaoh—the very Pharaoh who put forth the edict of death. As the daughter of Pharaoh found the child, she didn’t throw the child into the Nile to die. Rather, she pulled the child out of the Nile and adopted him to be her own. As she adopted the child, she gave him the name Moses, which sounds like the phrase “to draw out,” which is what she did when she drew the child out from the watery grave that was the Nile.

Now, can you imagine how stressful that entire situation had to be for Moses’ parents? Think of the stress of carrying the child, the stress of trying to come to a decision of how this child could live and not die. The stress of trying to keep everything as private as possible, not wanting word to get out. The stress of trying to keep the child hidden for three months—babies are not exactly the easiest to keep quiet. You can imagine how difficult and stressful this season was for the parents, all day, every day, as they made this decision that was in the best interest of their child.

If found out, not only would the child have been murdered by Pharaoh, it seems likely the parents would have been murdered as well for breaking the edict. Yet, in spite of the grave consequences of being caught, by faith, the parents of Moses did what was best. They honored the Lord; they did what was best for the child. They kept him hidden, not being afraid of the king’s edict. Church, that’s a lot of courage. That’s a lot of trust—courage in the Lord. They were courageously putting their life and their family into God’s hands, trusting the Lord with whatever outcome was going to come their way.

This wasn’t some bit of fake courage; you know, maybe we might want to talk big when there’s really no threat of harm. This is real courage being put on display by the parents of Moses.

Let’s keep going. This real courage that Moses’ parents had is seen throughout the text, as Moses modeled similar courage to that of his parents. If you look at verse 24, we see this:

“By faith, Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.”

This just mentions the one who pulled him out of the Nile.

Verse 25:

“Choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.”

Let’s hear this reference that somewhere along the lines, Moses caught wind—not only was he adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter, but that his birth parents were Hebrews, from the family of Israel. We don’t know exactly when Moses found out this information concerning his true birth parents, but we do see in the text that by the time he had grown up, this information now grabbed a hold of his heart to the point that he was willing to leave all of the luxuries of Egypt—which luxuries, no doubt, he had lived with his entire life since the time he was drawn out of the Nile.

Yet by faith, he left all the luxuries, all the comfort, to join his birth family, the rest of the Hebrew people. Moses was subjected to mistreatment, which in the book of Exodus was incredibly difficult mistreatment. By faith, Moses left the best this life could offer in Egypt to enter into some of the worst this life can offer as a slave.

In our text, as the Lord grabbed a hold of Moses’ heart by faith, we read that he chose to be mistreated. He chose it. He left the fleeting pleasures of sin, doing so in verse 26 of our text by considering, by believing, by trusting that the reproach of Christ, the approach of having Christ, that that actually was greater than all the wealth, all the treasure in Egypt. For Moses, our text tells us, was looking forward to the greater reward that was to come.

Now, just a few things here. First, just notice that Moses’ faith was a faith in God’s promises—promises that were still yet to come. This is something we keep circling around in our study, but I want to circle back around again today just because how essential and important it is in the text. Moses had faith in the promises of God—the promise that he gave to his people, particularly the promise of a Christ who was to come—the offspring of Abraham, right? The Christ who came much longer down the road, well after Moses had passed away. Yet that’s where Moses had his sights set, on the promised Christ.

But Moses didn’t have his sights set just on the promised Christ. We also see in the text that he had his sights set on the greater reward that was still yet to come, which ultimately is found in the eternal promised land in heavenly places.

For us, when we walk by faith, that’s what we’re doing: we’re putting our trust in God. We’re putting our trust in the promises that he has given to us. We are trusting in him, trusting in his word more than we’re trusting ourselves, more than we’re trusting in the current situations we might find ourselves in or potentially headed into, which for Moses included difficult circumstances of being mistreated.

Second, just take note again that Moses’ faith was taking him to that which was better—things that were superior. As he left the treasures of Egypt, as he left the fleeting pleasures of sin, he did so to seek that which was better, to the greater wealth, to the greater treasure of having Christ—the reward of Christ, the promised land that is to come is greater.

It’s better. This is also something we’ve been circling around throughout this study. When we get to chapter 11, friends, when we live by faith, as we have a proper view of our God, we’re living by faith, seeking that which is better, which is greater—the one who desires his people to have him, to have the peace and the joy that he gives, which is so much better, so much superior. Friends, our God is not a God who is like a killjoy. Rather, he’s the one who wants the best for us, which is himself.

By faith, we seek the greatest treasure. In our text, that was what Moses was after. By faith, that is what we must be after as well—that which is better.

Third, in verses 25 through 26, the theme of the sermon, friends, this was an act of courage by Moses. I think how easy it would have been for Moses to learn about his past—I’m sure somehow learning about his past is what he learned about the promises of God that Christ was to come. As Moses learns about these things, I think how easy it would have been just maybe to, like, sit on them or maybe try to figure out some ways that he could, like, kind of honor his past, but still keep all the treasures of Egypt at his disposal.

Think how easy it would have been for Moses just to, like, be quiet about it all—not rock the boat—not wanting to compromise all the treasures he had from Egypt, not wanting to lose any of the comforts that he enjoyed. Yet in our text, in an act of faith and courage, Moses clearly spoke up. He spoke up in ways where he left everything behind, knowing that he would be mistreated for doing so.

Friends, there’s so much courage involved in the faith of Moses. In verses 25 through 26, we know this: if he was a coward, he would have stayed silent. By faith, with courage, he spoke up.

Let’s keep going to verse 27. “By faith, Moses left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible.”

Okay, now let’s pause again. A few things here. First, is leaving of Egypt. Moses actually left Egypt twice. The first time is also recorded in Exodus 2, where after Moses struck down and killed an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew, Moses left Egypt and fled to a place called Midian, which is pretty far from Egypt on the other side of the Arabian Peninsula, where for 40 years then, Moses would live there as he toiled in obscurity as a shepherd. So that was his first time leaving Egypt.

Then the second leaving of Egypt took place during the Exodus, where, as mentioned earlier, God used Moses to deliver his people from the bondage of slavery and put them on a journey to the promised land. So perhaps the question here is which leaving of Egypt is the author referring to?

Because of all the passages laid out, chronologically, it seems likely this leaving of Egypt refers to the first time Moses left as he went to Midian, fleeing from Pharaoh, who no doubt would have gravely punished Moses for killing the Egyptian.

Now, the second thing: as Exodus 2 speaks about Moses fleeing Egypt, fleeing Pharaoh, it does so by saying that Moses was afraid of Pharaoh. But now in our text, in Hebrews, we read that he was not afraid of the anger of the king. Perhaps this feels like a bit of a contradiction between Exodus and Hebrews. Was Moses afraid? Was he not afraid?

I don’t think this actually is a contradiction. I think this is actually pointing out that maybe like two things can be true at the same time. Where in Exodus 2, it’s stressing one thing, now Hebrews 11 is stressing the other thing, and the two things are true. Yes, in Exodus 2, Moses was afraid of what Pharaoh could do. I’m sure Moses’ heart was racing. I’m sure he had sweat running down his face. He had real fear, real concern of what Pharaoh might do to him for killing the Egyptian.

But even though Moses had real fear of Pharaoh, a real concern of what might happen, Moses also had a greater fear of the Lord—a fear that led him by faith to leave Egypt, taking a dangerous long trip to the distant land of Midian. To further explain this, let me just share with you what the Pillar Commentary on Hebrews says concerning this: “Moses’ faith gave him a perspective different from the one that was being controlled by fear”—meaning the fear of Pharaoh. “This perspective enabled him to act as if he was not afraid.”

So saying, yes, he was afraid of Pharaoh, but because of his fear of God—which was greater—by faith, he moved in ways where he was able to do something as if he had no fear. On this note, to continue on this theme of courage, friends, to have courage doesn’t mean that we’re always 100% void of things like concerns or fears, or that we’re like blind to unpleasant realities that might come our way.

No, to have courage is to have the right perspective in the face of those threats in front of us—a perspective that’s God-centered—which allows us to act in ways that we’re trusting in the Lord. If we’re waiting to do something with courage, but we’re waiting for like us to have no concern or no fear or no other emotions similar to that—like, okay, once I’m completely void of those things, then by faith, I’ll move in courage—if that’s what we’re waiting for, guess what? We will never move.

Rather, by faith and courage, we move even when everything inside of us is telling us to do the opposite.

Third, in this passage here, let me just address the “seeing him who is invisible.” This is the motivation behind Moses moving by faith. The him that Moses was seeing, that was motivating Moses, causing Moses to persevere in the face of his fears, was the Lord.

Over and over and over, Moses looked to the Lord to find strength, to find hope, to find trust, to find courage. Through the eyes of faith, as Moses looked to the one who is invisible, Moses could see God’s hand on him, and that gave him courage and confidence to move forward.

By the way, this is one of the many reasons why as a church, we often try to speak about the evidence of God’s grace on us, where we might not physically see God with our eyes, but we see his gracious hand in our life. As we see God’s gracious hand in our life, hopefully it’s causing us to persevere, to find strength, to find trust, to find courage in whatever it is God might be leading us to do.

Finally, we’re going to end our text today with verse 28, which refers to the events that took place after Moses returned from Egypt after his 40 years of toiling in obscurity in Midian. The events that took place with God using Moses to put forth the various plagues of judgment on Egypt.

The plagues you can also read about in the book of Exodus. This actually plays right on the heels of when God met Moses in the burning bush, where God gave Moses the name Yahweh, “I am.”

In our text in Hebrews, by faith, he, Moses, kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood so that the destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them.

Okay, now this here is a reference to Exodus 12. This is the last of a series of plagues that God performed through Moses, which is the final plague by which the Lord would use to set his people free from the bondage of slavery.

In the series of plagues leading up to this last, final one in Exodus, God was putting his glory on display, but he was doing so in ways to harden the heart of Pharaoh, who continued to refuse to let God’s people go, to let them be freed from the bondage of slavery. As each of these plagues came, as judgment fell on Egypt, they were actually doing so in ways that were building to this final plague—this final great judgment on Pharaoh.

This final judgment was not just a plague. It was not just one of judgment; it was a plague of redemption for all who had faith. In this final plague, God would strike down judgment on the firstborn of the land, which in many ways, this is God now judging Egypt in the same way by which they were judging God’s people, which led to Moses’ parents floating Moses down the Nile in the basket.

This judgment would come through the Spirit of the Lord—or in our text, a destroyer—who would come and pass through the land, where in this last great plague, he would strike down all of the firstborn of the land unless the blood of a lamb was sprinkled on the doorframe.

As the destroyer went through Egypt, if he saw the blood of the lamb present, he would pass over that house and not touch it. Rather, that house would be saved from judgment. They would receive redemption, which in this redemptive work of God, through the blood of the Passover lamb, not only would God save them from judgment, but they would also be saved from the bonds of slavery.

As mentioned, God used this plague to cause Pharaoh to let God’s people go, as they were saved from slavery, but in this redemption, they also were saved to the journey to the promised land, where they would dwell forever—well, not forever, but that was the hope to dwell there.

Friends, keep going in this land or this theme, this faith of Moses, who kept the Passover lamb, sprinkled the blood so the destroyer might not touch the firstborn. Right? That’s faith filled with courage. Moses and the rest of God’s people took God at his word, where they trusted in the salvation that would come through the blood of the lamb.

Think about it: if they put the blood on the doorpost, but if God did not make good on his promise and he did not destroy the firstborn of the land, just think about what the next day would look like. As the Egyptians woke up and saw the blood of the lamb, think about what they would have done to Moses and all others who put their hope in the Passover lamb.

But by courage, they did what God commanded them to do. They trusted in God’s salvation.

This is where I want to finish our time today. I want to give us just some concluding thoughts when it comes to courage. As I give some final thoughts on courage, I want to finish by giving us some thoughts on how we can grow in this area of our life.

So I have three final thoughts here.

First, friends, have courage to stand up, to do that which is right, to do the things that God would have us to do. In the text, the parents of Moses had the courage to do the right thing for their son and protect his life. Think how easy it would have been to fall prey to the fear of man. But they didn’t. By faith, with courage, they kept the child hidden for three months.

In the text, Moses had the courage to do the right thing and leave worldly riches, the fleeting pleasures of sin, in order to have Christ and his eternal reward. It would have been easy to be consumed by worldly pleasures, by sin, but he didn’t fall into that seductive trap. He did the right thing by faith. He treasured Christ as the greatest treasure—the one worth leaving all things behind in order to have.

In the text, Moses had the courage to do the right thing. He offered up the Passover lamb so the destroyer might pass by. Moses could have trusted in himself to free God’s people; he could have taken the whole entire situation into his own hands. But he didn’t. Rather, by faith, with courage, he trusted in the Lord and the Lord’s great salvation.

Friends, that’s what courage is. It’s standing up to do the right things that God would have us to do, even in the face of personal cost.

So, courage is not just talking big without any skin in the game. We’re talking big without ever following through, without ever doing anything. Courage is trusting in our Lord—trusting him in ways that we do the things that he would have us to do, even when everything inside of us would have us do something different.

Second, church, have courage to seek after that which is best. Let me say again, that which is best. It’s the Lord. He’s the best. He is superior for us. May we have faith and have courage to seek after him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength in whatever situation we find ourselves in.

Friends, in the end, when we act in courage—the courage of faith—it’s because we’re seeking Christ. As we seek him, courage will follow.

Third, have courage to put your hope in God’s redemption. Here’s the reality: when we live with courage, there’s going to be risk involved. In a lot of ways, it was risky for the parents of Moses to stand up for life in a culture that celebrated death, which, by the way, on that note, our culture also celebrates death with abortion, which perhaps is risky for us to stand up for life as well.

Likewise, it was risky for Moses to leave all things. I mean, think of all the stuff he would have had to leave behind. That’s a risk in order to have Christ. By the way, it’s risky for us to do something like that as well. For the cause of Christ, maybe we’re giving up things like our time, our treasures, and our talents to serve others. Or maybe it’s risky to be a missionary or to be like Lottie Moon—to boldly share the gospel in challenging places. That’s risky.

It’s risky in the sense that we don’t know how things are going to turn out for us in this life. But friends, we have hope. In whatever situation that we might find ourselves or might come our way, whatever risk we take to courageously live for Christ, our hope—what we see in God’s word—is that we will be met with an even greater reward through the redemption that Christ has given to us. One that we will fully realize in the eternal promised land.

That is the covenant to come, where the reward is going to be so far better, so far superior than whatever it is that we risk. Friends, as we do this, we also remind ourselves that this reward is fully secured for God’s people of faith through the death and resurrection of Christ—for all people who come to him by faith, including all here today.

This just leads to the final thought I have for us, which is more of a question: how do we live a life of courage—once again, like real courage, not like fake courage that’s just all smoke and no fire? Courage where we can take stands in places of safety, but fold when it actually comes to a position where we really need to take a stand and take a risk.

In answer to that question, you know, how do we live a life of courage? How do we grow in courage? The answer is actually pretty simple: it’s by looking to God’s word in ways that continually center our sights on Jesus Christ.

Like Moses, we see whatever reproach that may come from following after Jesus is worth it because we know that Jesus is worth it. We know that Jesus is worth it because he is the perfect embodiment of courage.

Where Jesus is the one who left his heavenly throne—the place of ultimate luxury and comfort—to come for us for our salvation. Where, like Moses, Jesus was born during a time of an evil ruler who ordered or gave the order of the murder of babies. Jesus’ earthly parents, like Moses’ parents, took courage. They protected the Christ child, which led them to flee to Egypt, where, like Moses, Christ returned from Egypt, where for years he toiled in obscurity. It seemed like he worked as a carpenter.

However, according to God’s eternal plan, like Moses, God was going to bring his redemption for his people through the Lord Jesus Christ. But this time, not through a series of plagues. This time, not to free his people from the bonds of slavery, but this time through Christ, God would bring ultimate redemption for his people as Christ being the true Passover lamb—the one who shed his blood—where he became cursed for us, where he died on the cross, not only to take on the judgment of God, but to set us free—free from the bonds of sin that separate us from a holy and just God.

By the way, as Christ is about to head to the cross to take on the punishment of sin, this ultimate act of courage, he did so fully understanding the horrors he was about ready to take on. Where he knew he would be severely mistreated by man—beaten, mocked, ridiculed—where he knew he was going to take on the full wrath of God in our place as he became cursed for us. Yet knowing all these things that he was going to endure, the Lord Jesus still put his trust in his Heavenly Father and the eternal plan set before him and went to the cross and died for us—for our salvation.

Because Christ died according to Scripture, because Christ rose again from the dead, that is how he’s now leading his people on a better exodus to a better promised land—the promised land found in the heavenly places—where Christ himself has received the eternal reward, where he will sit at the right hand of His Father for all eternity.

Friends, if we’re going to live by faith, if we’re going to live with courage, that’s where we must look and continue to look so that we may endure by looking to the Lord Jesus Christ. For through the eyes of faith, we see how worth it he is, how worthy he is of whatever cost might come our way—how worthy he is to do whatever acts of courage he may be leading us to do.

Some of us here this morning, perhaps the act of courage that you need to take is to trust in Jesus for the very first time—where you’re willing to leave all things in order to have him. For all of us, perhaps the act of courage is to leave and forsake the fleeting pleasures of sin that have been clinging so closely, doing so by boldly and courageously confessing it to others so you can get help.

Maybe the act of courage involves being more generous with what God has given to you—having courage with your time and your treasures and talents to give them away to serve other people. Maybe the courage is that you just need to get past the fear of man—whatever that may be—and take a stand to do that which is right, which perhaps is taking a stand for the unborn.

Still need others here, maybe the courage that you need to walk in is to put away your silence and speak up—to tell others about Jesus and his salvation—starting with those whom God has already placed in your life: family, friends, coworkers, neighbors—to tell them about Jesus.

Perhaps some of us here, who knows where that might lead you? Maybe it will lead you to be a missionary like Lottie Moon, where you can lead others to knowing Jesus Christ in another part of the world.

Friend, whatever act of faith—whatever act of courage God may be leading you to do—do so by looking to Jesus Christ, trusting, believing that he is worthy of whatever cost may come your way of living a life of faith and courage.

Friends, when we look to Jesus, not only do we see our great reward, as we look to Jesus through the eyes of faith, we see God’s perfect love, which is a perfect love that casts out all our fears and allows us to live with courage.

Let’s pray.

Lord, thank you for Jesus Christ. Thank you that he is the embodiment of perfect, pure courage. Lord, please forgive us when we act as cowards rather than living by faith with courage. Lord, please grow us in this area of our life. We are thankful for the forgiveness of sin that forgives us, even when we’re cowards. Please help our little church family here to be bold and courageous for the cause of Christ. In his name we pray. Amen.

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